June 14, 2013 -- The shortage of primary care physicians in the U.S. is expected to worsen next year, as many newly insured patients enter the market under the Affordable Care Act.
Some policy analysts have suggested expanding the roles of physician assistants (PA) and nurse practitioners (NP) as one potential way to help alleviate some of the burden on physicians, and a new study published in Health Affairs shows that consumers are open to that idea.